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Due to the litigant nature of society, we should Prohibit, to the extent possible, sharing of public video surveillance data with third parties, including private litigants, and restrict sharing with other governmental entities.
Communities should restrict use of public video surveillance data by third parties. Especially to the extent the data reveals identifiable individuals, sharing of data with private litigants or other governmental agencies without the consent of the affected individuals severely undermines confidence in official motives for collecting such information, further threatens constitutional rights and values, and could generate legal liability for law enforcement. While releasing footage may be beneficial in some cases, such as to enlist public aid in apprehending a suspect or to perform an audit, in general, disclosures to third parties creates increased risk of the information being used for improper and unaccountable purposes.
I want to come up with a set written policy and procedure for my buildings and an indemnification of some sort to be signed when I actually do provide access to video… Plus a reimbursement fee to pay for the superintendents time for the retrieval process….
That said: Does anyone have any existing written policies and procedures in place? Possibly an indemnification and hold harmless for those entrusted with information? What are your policies?
Anthony Reinglas
Neither the old tread or the article sheds much light on third party usage and protection against liability of sharing the video, E.g. what if I give the video to an attorney for a slip and fall case and he sees his wife cheating on him, or a drug deal, or it does not capture what was intended for some reason.. etc.. crazy extremes but just making a point., there's thousands of scenarios... . but now I'm at liability for putting that out there! I think buildings and owners of these systems should know the potential risks and mitigate them as best as possible before they become an issue.
~AR
I am not an attorney, so please do not rely on this as legal advice.
As far as I know, anyone in a public space has no expectation of privacy. This includes the common areas of coops and condos. The same cheating wife, drug deal, etc could just as easily be captured on a tourist's smartphone or video camera with the same results. Think of all the videos posted on Youtube that capture unintended events.
I would assume that any building that asked to provide a copy of their surveillance camera video without any legal process like a subpoena would first prudently go to their attorney for advice. Even then the attorney should be consulted.
I do not think, though, that there is any immediate liability attached to providing a copy of a surveillance video tape, any more than providing a copy of a smartphone file.
If you learn anything more on this please share with the rest of us.
Thanks!
--- Steve
Great job Steve.....right on the money.
Thanks, Tim. :-)
A problem with restricting access to CCTV recordings is similar to the distribution of purchase application packages. As some coops email PDFs
of applications to Board members, sometimes videos of common area incidents can be sent to Board mrmberd for review. It’s difficult to control access once the Send button is pressed.
A procedure needs to address how long to retain a recording of an incident if it is about to be automatically deleted, and who decides to retain it.
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Hi Anthony,
This issue has been discussed on here before, so you might look for previous threads on surveillance videos.
An article from The Cooperator (magazine of the Counsel of NYC Cooperatives and Condominiums) provides a decent basic overview of surveillance regulations and practices. You can read the article here: https://cooperator.com/article/the-state-of-surveillance/full#cut
--- Steve
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